The Blood-Sucking Leech: A Rare cause of Unilateral Epistaxis

Leech in the Nose - an unusual cause of epistaxis.

Leech is an uncommon nasal foreign body, which can cause epistaxis. It is an aquatic segmental worm living in fresh water most commonly in tropical areas. Once it is attached in the nose, it will secrete an anticoagulant enzyme named hirudin, and that will result in continuous bleeding more than from a normal wound even after it is removed. We present a case of a live leech in the nose that cau...

leech bite: a rare cause of postmenopausal vaginal bleeding

A rare cause of unilateral rib notching.

From the Department of Cardiology, Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences & Research, Bangalore, India. Manuscript received September 27, 2012; accepted October 2, 2012. A19-year-old male with cyanosis and clubbing was diagnosed with tetralogy of Fallot (TOF). Chest x-ray (A) showed prominent rib notching involving the left hemithorax (arrow). Major aortopulmonary collaterals (arrows...

Factitious Disorder - A Rare Cause for Unexplained Epistaxis

Epistaxis or nasal bleeding is a common condition which may be severe enough to warrant an urgent medical or surgical treatment. Factitious epistaxis is a rare entity. Due to a lack of exposure in complex behavioral issues during undergraduate training, it is quite natural on the part of a surgeon to miss the underlying emotional phenomena. Here, we present a case of factitious disorder which p...

Leech Bite: A Rare Cause of Postmenopausal Vaginal Bleeding

Dear Editor, Postmenopausal vaginal bleeding has various causes. Differential diagnoses include exogenous estrogens, atrophic endometritis/vaginitis, endometrial or cervical cancer and polyps, uterine sarcoma, urethral caruncles and trauma. Therefore, it is necessary to rule out the pathological etiology of bleeding in postmenopausal women. The leech is a member of the phylum Annelida of the cl...